


Afterward

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Awakening Cameos, Becoming Parents, F/M, Family Loss, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polygamy, Post-Birthright, Spoilers, Weddings, comfort in unexpected places, pressing on despite pain, visiting graves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 05:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5816719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo slowly adjusts to a new life after the war takes so much from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afterward

**Author's Note:**

> _any, any, recovery_

He saw her off with a sad smile, she promised to keep in touch and visit whenever she could. And of course, insisted he come to visit when his schedule allowed. He still wished she wouldn't leave at all, but was nonetheless grateful she'd stayed with him for the past few months while he adjusted to this sudden change in his life.

He knew he wasn't alone, of course. Odin had enough energy for a whole crowd, despite being a bit much at times. And Niles...well, Niles had been more than just his subordinate. What started as a means of keeping warm during the cold nights had blossomed into a deeper intimacy, and while Leo had flinched at the idea of doing things he could be judged harshly for Niles was shockingly patient, letting him move the dance at his own pace.

Of course, he knew it couldn't stay like this. As the new King of Nohr, he would have to marry and produce an heir and he anticipated a painful process of advisors pushing him, throwing strangers at him, women fighting for the opportunity to be Queen.

The border guard, Charlotte, eventually won that spot. During the war she and Leo had spoken and come into contact with each other a few times, she'd survived a battle with the Hoshidans and one day he discovered her and Niles chatting like old friends. He found himself pulled into it and a week later, the two were engaged.

Niles remained his lover and became Charlotte's. Leo didn't know how they'd keep this from the public, the last King to have more than one lover had turned into a monster, but Niles and Charlotte assured him they'd "figure something out eventually" and he let himself believe it.

The day before the wedding, Leo gathered the courage to go to the royal cemetery where his brother and sister lay. He hadn't been there since Xander's funeral, holding Camilla's hand as she wept silently. Leo had almost envied her, even now he was still unable to cry even when a memory of Elise's smile came to him, or he would catch a glimpse of Siegfried mounted in the royal hall.

"I wish you could be there," he murmured. "My bride is...a bit of a handful, but she's a wonderful person once she lets you get to know her. She's strong, determined, and she possesses a kind heart...Elise, you would love her." Tears stung his eyes, but as always he held them back. "Camilla is happy in Hoshido. She claims she just wanted to be near Corrin, but I wonder if staying held too many bad memories for her."

He felt a little ridiculous, talking out loud to people who couldn't even hear him. The truth was, if any of their other siblings survived he might have joined Camilla in Hoshido, or at least left the castle. But he was also a man of pride, image and flawlessly carrying out tasks and this was how it was.

Leo touched his fingertips to each gravestone, turned around, and left.

He wore one of Xander's old cravats and a pair of his gloves with his formal suit, and gave Charlotte a floral headdress Elise had made shortly before her death. Camilla arrived just before the ceremony, which was long and elaborate but went off without a hitch.

Niles joined him and Charlotte for the wedding night. Neither of them would have had it any other way.

When Charlotte became pregnant a few months later, Odin and Niles teased and congratulated him heartily and went full-throttle in helping him prepare for fatherhood. Charlotte invited her parents to stay for the duration of her pregnancy, especially her mother, who was ecstatic at the thought of a grandchild.

Odin himself was soon to marry, a woman from his old home who'd come to stay with him. When he first laid eyes on her, Leo's heart clenched; with her bright smile and bouncy pigtails she reminded him of Elise. Arthur and Effie must have felt the same, taking to her almost instantly.

The next nine months were a blur of work, sadness, struggling and doing his best to keep with the demands of being King. Charlotte was a wonderful support, Niles refused to leave his side, and every night Leo would fall asleep between the two of them.

_You're not alone. You never will be alone, always remember that._

At one point, he realized he was thinking of Camilla without that familiar ache in his chest, and when Xander and Elise's birthdays rolled around he went to their graves to place flowers without flinching.

Charlotte gave birth to a son with a fine fuzz of blonde hair and wide, gentle eyes. Only when the midwife placed the baby in his arms did Leo feel the dampness against his cheeks. Tears of sorrow he'd denied himself had become tears of joy, and as foolish as he felt for them it was a relief to finally let them fall.

"Foleo," he murmured, sounding out the name he and Charlotte had decided on a while back. Niles and Charlotte each wrapped an arm around him, Charlotte leaning tiredly on his shoulder while Niles remarked on how much the boy looked like his father.

Leo still wasn't sure what kind of father he'd be, but it had finally fully sunk in that he wasn't alone, and that would make all the difference.


End file.
